Who’s afraid of federalism?
While there are many who welcome change, including federalism and a parliamentary form of government, there are just as many who have trepidation that this shift might not be as ideal as it is being touted to be.
Christian Monsod, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission , cautions against federalism saying most of these changes planned in federalism can be implemented in the laws in the Local Government Code. He also cited the uneven revenue income of each province which would result in a disparity in progress.
Then, there’s also the downside that federalism might empower political dynasties even more.
Against this backdrop of looming change, it seems the charter change train is on course. President Rodrigo Duterte is the train engineer with House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez his trusted conductor who will orchestrate how the supermajority plays it in the House.
So it looks like Congress is going Con-Ass and will con us. The dictionary defines the word “con” as to deceive or to dupe.
Riot in Rio
Brazilians protested in the streets of Rio de Janeiro even as the Olympic torch arrived at the scenic city venue of the 2016 Olympic Games which opened today. The homeless, unemployed and unpaid government workers took their grievances to the streets to make known to the world their plight amid government’s massive spending to host the quadrennial Olympic Games.
Brazilian riot police fired rubber bullets and rear gas to disperse the thousands of protesters who are mostly from the city’s slum communities.
The public protests against Brazil’s failure to address social issues come at a time when the Games are also rocked by a doping scandal against Russian athletes. The scandal could cause the organizers to ban their participation. The International Olympic Committee investigated the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs against Russian athletes and found basis for a probable ban or suspension. The only action being decided by the IOC is whether the whole Russian team would get shut out of the competition or whether the ban would apply only to individual athletes found positive for steroid use.
It would be a shame if Russia, a world power in sports competition, gets locked out in Rio. The Russians in the 2012 Olympics finished third in medal standings behind the United States and China. Russia had finished first and second in medal haul in past Olympiads. But other countries, particularly China and Great Britain, have over the years improved their performance. Competition has really gotten tight.
Sadly, we cannot say the same of our Filipino athletes. We have yet to win a single gold medal in Olympic competition. Our two silver medals came from boxers Anthony Villanueva and Mansueto Velasco.
It’s not our athletes’ fault that they perform poorly. This is more the fault of the sports officials in charge of athletes’ training and of the management of a sound sports program.
Miss Universe in Manila
The street scene in Rio could be duplicated here when Manila hosts the next Miss Universe beauty pageant. The same social conditions—unemployment, homelessness, graft and crime—are pervasive despite good economic indicators that are not felt by the poor.
Although the month-old administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is addressing the crime and illegal drugs problems, the basic issues of poverty and lack of jobs will take years to solve or alleviate.
Will the homeless poor be swept out of sight from Manila’s streets so they won’t be seen by tourists and the Miss Universe contestants?
Those against the hosting of Miss Universe here cite the enormous funds government would underwrite to promote tourism and foreign investment. Will staging Miss U really bring in the tourists and foreign investors? This is only a short-term effect. In the end, it will be the government’s sound investment policy and infrastructure component of tourism like modern airports and good roads leading to resorts and tourism spots that would matter. Underspending for marked Aquino’s six years in office.
London armed to the teeth
Some 600 heavily armed policemen have been deployed on the streets of London. Authorities said the city was drawing lessons from the series of terrorist attacks in France, Belgium and Germany where hundreds were killed.
During halcyon days before global terrorism, London policemen did not carry guns while on patrol. Firearms were only brought in by cops when confronting a heavily armed criminal. What is the world coming to? Global terrorism and ISIS happened, that’s what.
British authorities justified the deployment of armed policemen as “it’s not a matter of if, but when.” London experienced terrorist attacks in its underground railway system and street buses on July 7, 2005 during which 52 were killed by Islamist terrorists.
